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11/06/2012 11:27 AM

Be Alerted: ALEC Prioritizes Renewable Energy For Next Year

SustainableBusiness.com News

Regardless of who wins today's elections, conservative groups and their fossil fuel industry backers will keep working to crush the renewable energy industry. They will be greatly assisted, of course, if more Republicans win elections on the state and federal levels.

ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), the notorious right-wing group that develops model legislation, which legislators then introduce across the country, is launching an all-out effort to repeal state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) through model legislation, the "Electricity Freedom Act."

They plan to make repealing state RPSs a "high priority" for the coming year.

The bill is written and funded by an ALEC task force consisting of representatives from major oil, gas and power companies, including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Koch, and Shell.

As most of you know, these standards - in place in 29 states and Wash DC - require utilities to source a certain percentage of their energy from renewables by a target date. The percentage varies depending on the state. The RPS is among the most important methods for increasing the share of renewable energy in the US.

ALEC says it opposes the concept of RPS because it is essentially a tax on consumers and mandates some energy sources over others.

The bill says that wind and solar power are expensive and unreliable, and that forcing utilities to use renewables threatens electric grid reliability and will increase the cost of doing business through rate increases or higher taxes.

"Forcing business, industry, and ratepayers to use renewable energy through a government mandate will increase the cost of doing business and push companies to do business with other states or nations, thereby decreasing American competitiveness," the bill states.

ALEC points to studies that claim electric rates will rise up to 37% by 2025 in Minnesota, for example, because of its RPS. Who conducted the study? ALEC's right-wing sister organization, American Tradition Institute. Earlier this year, a memo uncovered that group's planned national PR campaign to turn public opinion against renewable energy.

This line of logic is false.

Studies find that state RPSs have not significantly affected electricity rates between 2000-2010. Instead, these policies lead to cleaner air, economic development, a more resilient electrical grid and greater resource diversity, which reduces risk to consumers by not relying on any one energy source.

ALEC's uses faulty assumptions. That "coal and natural gas prices will be very low and stable over time, and they don't count any environmental benefit to society from renewables," Richard Caperton from the Center for American Progress told Midwest Energy News.

Minnesota's largest utilities say they would add wind power regardless of the state's mandate, reports Midwest Energy News.

Although ALEC has lost a slew of corporate supporters this past year after they were finally exposed, 2000 state lawmakers remain members. Among the raft of right-wing legislation ALEC is responsible for are the voter suppression laws that have taken hold across the country this year.

ALEC's goal is "to do one thing, and that's to maximize the profits of fossil fuel industry and eliminate renewables from competition. I don't see where the freedom is in that," warns Doug Klopp of Common Cause. Advocates of renewable energy should be worried.

Even the term "fossel" fuel ...is a fraud, originated by the oil cartel in 1893, during an energy meeting in Geneva,in order to create the illusion that it is a limited resource. Fuel is NOT created of "fossel..." thus, this also means that peak oil too is a fraud.

"Even the term "fossel" fuel ...is a fraud, originated by the oil cartel in 1893, during an energy meeting in Geneva..."
I studied engineering in the late '60s and the term "fossil fuels" was used then.